Precision immuno-oncology
To develop better biomarkers and therapies, it is important to increase our understanding of the interactions between tumour cells and the immune system through in-depth analyses with hundreds of individual patients.
Tumours can quickly develop resistance to immune responses through evolving repertoires of genetic and epigenetic changes, and vary between cancer patients. Therefore, it is important to increase our understanding of the interactions between tumour cells and the immune response, which remains incomplete.
Maurice Wilkins Centre investigators combine cutting edge gene-based and tissue-based research to improve targeted immunotherapies for a variety of tumours types. This research will involve tumour immuno-genotyping and immune-phenotyping, including DNA sequencing and high content immuno-histochemical analysis, to identify biomarkers and patient-specific antigens, which can enable personalised cancer immunotherapies for New Zealand patients, such as peptide vaccines.